Roof accessory



Sept. 8, 1931. H. c. MACAN 1,822,410

' ROOF ACCESSORY Filed Dec. 29, 1928 ATTORNEYS 6 similar locations. More specifically, the in Patented Sept. 7 8, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HARRY C. MACAN, F RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR 'IO' ANACONDA SALES COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE ROOF ACCESSORY Application 'filed December 29, 1928. Serial No. 329,283.

This invention relates to roofing accessories which are used on roofs to render themtight against rain and wind at the edges or verges, in the valleys, around chimneys and in other vention is concerned with an accessory suitable for these various purposes, wh ch 1s made wholly or in part of weather-resistant metal such as copper. In one form of the n- 10 vention, the metal is used alone, being strengthened and reinforced by folding, crimping or the like to give the accessory the necessary stiffness in one direction, while in another form, the metal is'used as a facing and is backed and supported by a base of flexible fibrous material such as thin felt, the two parts beingsecur'ed together in such manner as not tointerfere with the shaping of the accessory to fit the location where 1t is to be employed.

By way of example, an embodiment of the invention in the form of a verge accessory will be illustrated and described in detail, though it is to be understood that the utility of the invention is not limited to that particular adaptation, as will be made clear as the description proceeds.

In an ordinary roof covered by roofing elements laid in overlapping courses in the usual manner, the elements at the ends of the courses may be laid with their side edges flush with the ends of the roofing boards or they may project a slight distance beyond these boards. In either event, there are likely to be spaces at the rear edges of the courses through which rain may enter the roof 1n a direction lengthwise of the courses, these spaces being of considerable size 1f the elements are of uniform thickness from end to end, and of less size if the elements are tapered. Such spaces reduce the portectlon afforded by the'roof and are unsightly.

To prevent the entrance of rain, cold air or wind at these points and to give the verges of the roof a finished appearance, have devised a simple accessory which is laid 1n place along theside edge of each element or shingle at the verge as that element is placed in position, the accessory having a portion which extends down over the ends of the element on which itis laid and over portions of the other elements which lie beneath that element. In the ordinary roof, the shingles are laid so that the exposed portion of each shingle overlies part of a shingle in the course next beneath and part of a shingle in the second, underlying course' There is only a small area where the three elements overlap and beyond that area on up the roof there is a substantial distance where only two shingles protect it. Accordingly, at the butt end, the distance from the top of each shingle to the roofing boards is greatest, and this distance decreases gradually as the rear edge of the shingle is approached, where the distance is equal to the thickness of the shingle.

In the accessory of the present invention when employed at the verges, the portion which is to extend over the edges of the shingles has a tapering width to correspond to the varying distance between the top of the shingle on which it is laid and the roofing parallel sides and it is bent along its median line to conform to the configuration of the roof at the location where it is to be used. Its width is sufiicient so that it will extend to either side of the valley and be overlain by adjacent shingles'.

While the shape and size of the accessory will depend on the use to which it is to be put, the accessory will in any case consist of sheet metal, such as copper, cut to proper size and shape and stiffened and reinforced by folding or crimping the metal back upon itself along the lateral edges. If desired, the accessory may also include a backing of material such as felt, cut to size, and secured to the metal by having its lateral edges en gaged and gripped by the crimping iven the metal. The felt may be otherwise flee from the metal or secured to its rear face bysuitable adhesive. By employing lateral crimping in the manner' described, the felt and metal are firmly bound together, and the crimping in no way reduces the flexibility of the accessory along its median line, such flexibility being required in order that the accessory may be fitted properly in position.

Fora better understanding of the inven-' tion, reference may be had tothe accompanyin drawings in which ig. 1 is a view of a portion of a roof verge in perspective with parts broken away andig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4,

Fig. 6 is a sectional view through a' por-- tion of the accessory,

Fig. 7 is-a sectional view of an accessory of the composite type, and Fig. 8 is ajview in perspective of-a valley accessory.

Referrin now to the drawings, there is shown as Figs. 1 and 5, a portion of'a' roof at a verge, this roofbeingcovered with roofing elements of the strip shingle type laid in overlapping course. The elements shown are of the metal-clad type, each element 10 including a base 11 of non-metallic material and a coatingof metal 12 covering the normally exposed portions thereof, these elements being laid in the usual manner with those in each course ofiset from those in adjacent courses. on either side. While the elements illustrated are .of the copper-clad type, it is to be understood that the utility of this inventionis-in no way limited to use with any particular element, and it may be employed with. any type-of element. W'hen employed with metal-clad elements it is preferably made of the same metal used in such'elements, since in that event, it is less apparent in place.

The elements or shingles are shown laid in the ordinary manner on roofing boards 13 laid on rafters, the side edges of theshingles at the ver e lying flush with the ends of the boards. is these shingles are of uniform thickness, a starting strip 14 is laid on the shingle of the course 17 through the rear ends laid courses, and it will be seen that, except for the nails 16, each naildriven holds shingles in .two' courses inplace.

Due to the fact that the" shingles are of uniform thickness, it will be noted that there is a space 20 at the rear edge of each course between the roofing boards andthe under sur faces of theshingles of the next overlying course. Such spaces are of considerable size in a roof laid with shingles of uniform thickness but similar spaces of'varying size occur in roofs covered by tapered shingles, because of the impracticability of forming the shingles with a feather edge at the rear end and because of variations in their taper. Throughout the body of the roof these spaces are unimportant but at-the ends of the courses along the verges of the roof, they offer an opportunity for wind, rain and snow to enter.

To overcome this difiiculty, I have devised an accessory to be laid at the verges of the roof, which accessory is shown in different forms in Figs. 2 and 7. This accessory may be made of sheet metal of suitable thickness, either with or without a backin The metal employed is preferably copperliecause of its resistance to corrosion. The accessory is formed of two similar portions 21 and is folded along' its median line 20 so that these portions lie at right angles to each other. Each portion has its greatest width at one end 22 of the accessory and the width of the portions decreases toward the other end, where the width is at aminimum. The length of the accessory and the width dimensions of its parts depend on the dimensions of the shingles with which it is to be laid and the normal exposure of the'shingles, and the accessory is therefore made in different sizes for different purposes. The minimum width of its parts 21 at the end 23 should not be less than the thickness of a single shingle with which it'- is to be used, while its maxiinumwidth may be any desired value, so long as all the accessories used on a roof are of the same shape and dimensions.

In using the accessory, the shingles of the first course are laid and before'the end shingle of the course is nailed in position, an ac cessory is laid along theouter edge of the end shingle. The'accessory isplaced sothat its end 22 lies flush with the line along which the shingles of thenext higher course are to be laid, and it extends from that line to the rear end of the shingle, When the nail 16 is driven, it ,will pass through the accessory and hold it in place. After the next course is laid and before the end shingle is nailed,

i -laid inthe manner described, it will be ap-' another accessory} is placed along the edge of theend shingle, and when the end shingle is nailed, the nail 18 will" pass through both accessories, so that in the finished roof, each accessory is held in place by two nails.

Inthe ordinary roof, coveredvwith shingles parent that the dimension ofeach shingle from butttorearis equal 'to twice the width therefore be equal to the width of the normal exposure plus the head-la since it is to extend from the. rearedge o the exposure area to the rear end-of the shingle.

In order to determine the angle of taper between the. edge 26 and the median line 20,

' entirely of metal and to make it, a blank of the following method may be used. Erect a right triangle onthe part 21 using the median line 20 as a base, the length-of the base, however, being equal to the normal exposure of the elements with which the accessor "is to be used. The altitude of the triang e will then be equal to the thickness of one element and bemarked off on the part 21 at the end 24 of the median line. Theedge- 26 of the part 21 should then be parallel to the hypotenuse of this triangle and may be at any desired distance from the hypotenuse, provided that at the end 23, the part 21 has a width equal to or greater than'the thickness of an element.

Since all the accessories to be used along a verge will be ofv uniform shape and size and of uniform length, it will be apparent that when these accessories are laid in the manner described, the edges of the portions.

o f sorles w llcover the spaces 20 and more or less of theends of the roofing boards dependent on the amount by whichthe amount by which the dimensions of the accessories exceed the minimum requirements.

The accessory illustrated in Fig. 2 is made trapezoidal form is cut from a sheet. To give the accessory added strength and stiffness without interfering with lts normal use,

the edges of the blank are folded inwardly" 29is relatively thin and is backed by a layer of material 30. This layer may be of flexible nated felt is preferably emp oyed for the purpose. The felt is cut to proper size and shape and laid on the back of the metal, the felt being preferably slightly narrower than the metal. The edges of the metal are now folded inward as at 31 to overlie the edges 32 of the felt, then the folded portions are again folded along the lines 33. By such folding the felt is securely gripped by the .metal along. the side edges of the accessory.

While further attachment of the felt to metal is not required, the felt may if desired be secured to the under surface of the metal by means of an adhesive, such as. asphalt emulsion.

The composite accessory shown is cheap and'easy to construct and the felt strengthens and rein forces the metal without interfering with its necessary flexibility along its longitudinal axis.

In Fig. 8,-there is shown" an accessory of the novel construction suitable for valleys,

etc. This accessory illustrated has the felt backing 30, secured to the metal along the lateral edges 34 of the latter, and it is of substantially greater width than the verge accessory, its side edges being parallel. It is flexible along its median line so that it may be shaped according to the requirements of the location where it is to be used. It will be apparent that the new accessory may be made in numerous shapes and forms foriother pur poses.

What I claim:

1. A roofing accessory which comprises a metal blank flexible about its longitudinal axis, and a flexible fibrous backing for saidblank, said backing being of substantially the same length as the blank and of less width, the lateral edges of the blank and backing being in-folded and the extreme lateral edges of the blank extending around the extreme lateral edges of the backing and concealing them.

2. A roofing accessory which comprises a metal blank flexible about its longitudinal axis, .and a 'flexible fibrous backing for the blank lying wholly within the outline of the blank, said backing being secured to the blank along the lateral edges thereof by in folded edges of said blank, said backing also having in-folded portions along said lateral edges adding to the stiffening effect of the in-folded edges of the blank; I

,3. In a roof, roofing boards, a plurality of shingles of similar length laid side by side in overlapping courses on said boards, an opening occurring atthe end of each course between the rear end of each shingle and a shingle of they overlying course, and a roof ing accessor v disposed at the end of each course and aving a portion lying on top fibrous material, and thin as halt-impregof the end shingle of the courseand extending rearwardly from the exposure line of said shingle and overlain by a shingle in the next higher course, and another portion extending down along the edge of sand first shingle to cover said opening.

4. In a roof, roofing boards, a plurality of shingles of similar length laid side by side in overlapping courses on said boards, an opening occurring at the end of each course between the rear end of each shingle and a shingle of the overlying course, and a roofing accessory disposed at the end of each course having a portion overlying the end shingle in the course and overlain andconcealedby a shingle of thenext hi her course, and another portion extending down along the edge of said shingle to cover said opening,

' said first overlying portion of the accessory registering at one end with the butt end of the shingle under which it lies.

5. In a roof, roofing boards, a plurality of shingles of similar length andthickness laid on said boards inoverlapping courses, an opening occurring at the end of each course between the rear end of each shingle and the under surface of the overlying shingle, and a roofing accessory disposed at the end of each course and having a portion overlying the end shingle in the course and wholly concealed by a shingle in the next higher course and another portion extending down along the edge of said shingle to cover said open- "ing, said second portion being of tapering width with its minimum width not less than the thicknesspf one of said shingles.

-. 6. In a roof, roofing boards, a plurality of shingles of similar length and thlckness laid in overlapping courses with head-lap, an opening occurring at the end of each course between the rear-end of each shingle and the under surface of the overlying shingle, and roofing accessories one for each course, each accessory having a portion overlying the face of the end shingle in the course and wholly concealed by a shingle in the next higher course, one end of said portion registering with the butt end of said concealing shingle,

and another portion extending along the edge of the shingle and covering said opening, the length of said accessory along a line between said portions being at least equal to the width of the exposure of a shingle .plus the head-lap.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

HARRY o. MAOAN. 

